It attracted attention when NSB started renting cars back in 2018. They bought 250 copies of the electric car Renault Zoe, and placed these around Oslo.
NSB Bybil was the name of the service, it was later renamed Vy Bybil. Here you could rent a car, at a fixed minute price.
Several teams questioned whether NSB and later Vy should engage in this, in direct competition with a number of private actors. The skepticism has probably not diminished after it has been shown that the money has run out of cash.
The industry website BilNytt.no has previously written that Vy Bybil, which is owned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, had a blood-red deficit in 2019. The company had a turnover of NOK 14.2 million and a loss of NOK 23.8 million. This is in addition to a loss of 5.3 million in 2018.
Larger luggage space and 4×4
According to BilNytt.no new losses are expected in the 2020s.
But Vy Bybil continues to invest. Now they are expanding the service with 30 copies of the Tesla Model 3. These will complement the city car Renault Zoe, as so-called “tour cars”. These are to be rented out at a daily price, and must be picked up and delivered in Oslo.
– With the new Teslas, we get larger cars with good luggage space and four-wheel drive, which are also suitable for cabin trips or Norwegian holidays, says Executive Vice President for Customer Experience and Innovation at Vy, Synne Homble, to BilNytt.no.
Also read: One in five feels pressured to choose extra insurance
These cars are now joined by Tesla Model 3 around the places where Vy Bybil has placed its cars. Photo: NTB Scanpix.
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Competing with taxi
The general manager of Vy Bybil, Espen Dyb Løvold, believes the company does not compete with other car sharing services:
– We compete more with taxis since a typical city car trip goes from A to B and lasts for 20 minutes.
Asked by BiNytt.no if they do not start competing with the car sharing companies when they offer the Tesla Model 3 at the daily price, he answers as follows:
– That’s so far true.
Also read: One thing you MUST remember when renting a car
– Has been a bloodbath
Atle Falch Tuverud is editor-in-chief of BilNytt.no. He has the following comment on this matter:
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BilNytt’s editor-in-chief Atle Falch Tuverud raises major questions about the taxpayers’ money being used to cover the deficit on the car sharing service in Oslo.
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– Several players in the Norwegian car industry react violently to the fact that taxpayers’ money is used to cover large deficits at a car sharing service in Oslo. It is in a market where, to put it mildly, there is no shortage of offers from other players. In addition, the taxi industry has been through a demanding time.
– There has been a bloodbath among car sharing players in recent years, and several players have had large deficits. It is almost absurd that Vy rents parking spaces in 35 parking garages, and is responsible for charging and maintaining 250 cars, which they manage to rent out a few minutes a day. I understand very well that they are looking at new business models. So far, they have lost almost 100,000 per car, every year. Even though the 2020 figures are not clear, I am far from a fortune teller if I say that it is likely to be red numbers, says Falch Tuverud.
Also read: We tested how it works to rent a car per minute, read more here
This article was first published on Broom.no
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